The present invention relates to an intervertebral prosthetic device for stabilizing the human spine, and a method of implanting same.
Spinal discs that extend between adjacent vertebrae in vertebral columns of the human body provide critical support between the adjacent vertebrae. These discs can rupture, degenerate, and/or protrude by injury, degradation, disease, or the like to such a degree that the intervertebral space between adjacent vertebrae collapses as the disc loses at least a part of its support function, which can cause impingement of the nerve roots and severe pain.
In these cases, intervertebral prosthetic devices have been designed that can be implanted between the adjacent vertebrae, both anterior and posterior of the column and are supported by the respective spinous processes of the vertebrae to prevent the collapse of the intervertebral space between the adjacent vertebrae and provide motion stabilization of the spine. Many of these devices are supported between the spinous processes of the adjacent vertebrae.
In some situations it is often necessary to perform a laminectomy to remove the laninae and the spinous process from at least one vertebra to remove a intervertebral disc and/or to decompress a nerve root. Typically, in these procedures, two vertebral segments are fused together to stop any motion between the segments and thus relieve the pain. However, since the spinous process is removed from one of the vertebra, it would be impossible to implant a intervertebral prosthetic device of the above type since the device requires support from both spinous processes of adjacent vertebrae.